Who is the Greatest?

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire” (Matthew 18:1-9).

The disciples are clearly looking forward to the coming of Jesus’ kingdom, and their very prestigious places in it. They want to know who will be the greatest. Jesus tells them: Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. This answer is consistent with Jesus’ teachings about greatness. Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave; he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. This is the way God works. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The first will be last and the last, first.

Children, especially in ancient times, can be viewed more as a liability and an asset. They cost money to feed and care for. They know nothing. They own nothing. Until they are of a certain age, they can do no productive work. All they can do is receive what is given them. This is what Jesus tells His disciples here. They are to be humble, not seeking to be exalted, receiving His gifts of repentance, faith, and forgiveness of sins as a child. We are called to do the same. He goes further. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes. Jesus tells us that it would be better for a man to die a violent death than to cause “one of these little ones who believe in Me” – a brother or sister in the faith – to sin. To illustrate this more clearly, Jesus uses an example He used to talk about sexual sin in the Sermon on the Mount: If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.

Of course, Jesus is showing us that it isn’t our hand, foot, or eye which causes us to sin, or causes us to harm our brother, but rather our heart. That which comes out of a man, out of his heart, is what makes him unclean. We are not made sinners because we committed sins, we sin because we are sinners; it is who we are according to our old, corrupt, fallen human nature. The only remedy is repentance, and child-like faith in Christ. He has purchased and won me from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and by His innocent suffering and death. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; the new has come. And, like little children, we receive this gift, not because we deserve it, but because God loves us. He gives it to us in the preaching of His Word of Law and Gospel. He washes our sins away and connects us to Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy Baptism. He nourishes us and sustains our faith when we humbly gather, as He invites us, to eat His body and drink His blood in the Lord’s Supper. And we live our lives in godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, sowing the seed of Christ’s Gospel to all those among whom He has placed us, according to our vocations, knowing that His Word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish what He pleases.

Obedience by Faith

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:1-3).

John continues the same theme with which he began his letter. There is a danger, however, of hearing what John is saying in a damaging, legalistic way. We could use John’s words in Chapter one, and here, to tell ourselves to get to work being good so that we can be Christians. If we want to know that we love the children of God, get busy loving God and keeping His commandments. There is a danger of hearing these words as commands and thinking we are capable of doing something which we are not: not sinning, and keeping His commandments. It is easy to hear John’s words of comfort here in a thoroughly discomfiting way: If we say we are Christians, but act like non-Christians, we are not Christians. If it were true that acting like non-Christians (sinning) while claiming to be believers meant that we weren’t really Christians, there would be no Christians.

It isn’t possible for us not to sin. It isn’t possible for us to act in a God-pleasing way perfectly, which is what He requires. John is talking about those who practice sin. John is talking about those who say their sinfulness isn’t sinful; he’s talking about those people who ignore God’s call to repent. He’s talking about people who, rather than turning away from their sin, embrace and celebrate it. This is much different from the Christian who hates his sin, repents of it, and then continues to struggle with those sinful desires. The Christian’s struggle with sin is an ever-present one, and even when we try to please God in our thoughts, words, and deeds, we fail. The Christian knows, however, that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Having been washed by water and the word, we have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. He has taken our sin and given us His righteousness in exchange. The non-Christian doesn’t have the promise, and must seek to justify himself. We don’t need to justify ourselves. We have been justified by faith, and have peace with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ. So, when John tells us that the love of God is that we keep His commandments, John is talking about doing, or keeping God’s commands, not as one who does an act in order to earn something, but rather as a tree bears fruit. A tree doesn’t decide to bear fruit; it doesn’t decide what type of fruit it will bear. An apple tree bears apples because it is an apple tree. That is it’s nature. It cannot do otherwise. Men, likewise, bear fruit according to their nature. We sin because we are sinners; committing sins does not turn us into sinners.

God, through our Baptism, has made we who believe in Christ, into new creatures. We have new natures now. Our old man, our old sinful nature, has been drowned in the waters of Baptism. So, like the apple tree, we bear fruit according to our new nature, not to become forgiven, but because God has forgiven us because of Jesus. We still have to contend with sin because, though I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, the new creature, there is another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!